Charleston Currents

Focus

Randolph Hall at the College of Charleston.

FOCUS: Meet Steve Osborne, interim president of the College of Charleston

By Mike Robertson, College of Charleston | Stephen C. Osborne became the interim president of the College of Charleston on July 2 following the retirement of President Glenn F. McConnell ’69.

Osborne
Osborne, however, is not new to the college, having served as a senior advisor to McConnell for the past year and before that as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the college from 2006 to 2017.

As he takes the helm of his alma mater, Osborne shared some details about himself and his plans for the college in the coming months as the Board of Trustees works toward identifying CofC’s 23rd president.

by Charleston Currents · 07/09/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Frugal ways to have some summertime fun at county parks

By Charleston County Parks | The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission is making it easy to find affordable fun for the whole family. The Frugal Fun campaign highlights more a dozen affordable recreational activities at various Charleston County Park locations this summer.

Visitors to the county parks can choose from a wide range of activities that are available for five dollars per person or less (park admission fees sometimes apply). Many activities are also offered free with park admission.

Low-cost Frugal Fun activities at Charleston County Parks include skating, cycling, pedaling, paddling, fishing, swimming and more …

by Special to Charleston Currents · 06/25/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Group calls for Tuesday passage of slavery apology resolution

By SJRE Collaborative leaders, special to Charleston Currents | For the past 15 months, the Social Justice Racial Equity Collaborative convened by the Sophia Institute has hosted duet conversations with local black and white leaders sharing their personal perspectives and truths.

On Tuesday, June 19, passage of the Resolution to Recognize, Denounce, and Apologize for the City’s role in the Institution of Slavery offers a chance for the Charleston region to begin to share its truth.

We hope you will lend your voice in support and stand with us.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 06/18/2018 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Palm: Local business leaders need to step up now

By Fred Palm, contributing editor | The Lowcountry is a dysfunctional area because in many situations, the business community organizes “business councils” that serve as sounding boards and advocates for enlightened public policy for the common good to achieve a turnaround. Unfortunately, they’ve been mostly dormant and now is the time for our business leaders to step forward to contribute community service for the common good. Here is why.

The fiction that ‘growth is good’ and that ‘growth pays for itself’ is exposed in Summerville for the shams that they are. All elected politicians know them to be big lies. Only some have the courage to give voice to truth and the reality of numbers – and to come up with workable solutions.

by Fred Palm · 06/11/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Common Good, Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Wentworth: Always remember to proofread and spellcheck

By Marjory Wentworth, special to Charleston Currents | I am a poet, so you might think I’m going to talk about the knowledge that poetry can bring to the world and the inherent joys of being a writer, but I am speaking to you today from a different platform – as a mother whose three sons finished college not that long ago and as a professor who has taught college for many years. I have learned and continue to learn a great deal from my students, and I want to share some of this hard-earned knowledge with you.

Wentworth
Since I am a writer, I teach writing classes, as well as literature and public speaking. My students have to write a lot of essays; you too will have to write many essays at college. So, the title of my speech today is, Always Remember to Proofread and Spellcheck. These words may be familiar to you, but what does this have to do with you as you head off to college? More than you might think.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 06/04/2018 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Airport displays local art on Concourse B

Staff reports | If you’re walking through Concourse B of the Charleston International Airport, you’ll be wowed by artwork from local artists with national followings.

On display are photographs by:

Jack Alterman (“French Quarter”);
John Duckworth (“Ashley River 84334”); and
Henry Fair (“Arsenic and Water”);
as well as paintings by:

Fred Jamar (“Broad Street”)’
Mary Whyte (“Artist”);
Jill Hooper (“Beautiful Oysters III);
Douglas Balentine (“Cargo II”; and
West Fraser (“Bluffton Oyster Factory Shuckers”).

by Charleston Currents · 05/28/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Lots of elections coming to the Lowcountry

Staff reports | You can tell election time is nearing. Just witness all of the political advertising clutter between newsbreaks on the local television stations. This year, there are more competitive elections than in recent memory, likely because of the increasing inter-party sniping and overall partisanship, rants and social divides impacting the state and nation since the 2016 national election.

So we thought it would be helpful to provide you with an early guide to the elections on the ballot in federal, statewide, legislative and county offices in Charleston County so you can figure out who you might want to vote for and which primary you’ll make your picks.

You can see a sample ballot based on where you live by checking your voter registration through SCVotes.org.

by Charleston Currents · 05/21/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Scott in his Charleston restaurant. Photo via RodneyScottsBBQ.com. Credit: Andrew Cebulka.

FOCUS, E. Brack: The mouth waters at Rodney Scott’s BBQ

By Elliott Brack | The first thing that hits you when stepping into Rodney Scott’s Barbecue at 1011 King Street here is how very clean the place is. It pristinely sparkles and shines with neatness, everything in place, while the floor appears clean enough to eat on. It’s a far cry from most barbecue joints, often in rundown shacks with sawdust on the floor. Even his outdoor seating area, if you don’t mind the Charleston humidity, is clean and neat, with wood for the cooking in half-cord stacks of oak, pecan and hickory.

His headliner, the barbecue, itself is beautifully pulled, just as neat and clean itself, with no untidy pieces of scrap meat or fat, included. Sprinkle of Rodney’s various sauces, and start to salivate in anticipation!

Everything at Rodney Scott’s is simple and direct, from the menu to the counter. His menu also includes several vegetables including collards, and a mac and cheese. People rave about his cornbread. And each staff greets you easily with a smile and without an attitude.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 05/14/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Palm: Moving flood control beyond more trees

By Fred Palm, contributing editor | The Post and Courier editorial team (April 27, 2018) advocated that the City of Charleston plant trees to start to address flooding. That is a start. Here is what got left out.

We know that the outer lands, when properly employed to protect ourselves, buffer, reduce inundation and wave height that flood the inner uplands. We also know the flooding follows the rivers and floodplains going inland to Goose Creek and Mount Pleasant to the Francis Marion National Forest and other parts of the lowlands. This is a threat going well beyond the city of Charleston and addressed well beyond planting trees, though it helps. It could also be a way to have the Dutch dialogue that the P&C editorial writers endorsed recently.

Flooding is a coastal threat. Comprehensive plan funding is needed by all the S.C. state coastal counties and cities; and where the lion’s share of state revenue is drawn. We urgently need the state to act by funding a statewide plan including the coastal waters’ edges and upland rivers.

by Fred Palm · 05/07/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Common Good, Focus, Views

FOCUS: Public school teachers are stewards of our future

By Caroline Mauldin, special to Charleston Currents | South Carolina’s public school teachers are indeed stewards of our future. By fostering young minds to be critical and creative thinkers, they are preparing an agile workforce that will be able to adjust and thrive in a changing economy. By showing up every day for our children, they are pillars of every community in the state, especially those that are increasingly under-resourced and struggling to survive. And by choosing a career of service and leadership, they are doing more to ensure the state’s prosperity than most—and certainly more than we give them credit for.

South Carolina can and should be proud of our public school educators. We should also be proud of how we celebrate them at the Teacher of the Year gala every May. What we need to work on is how we, as a society, treat them the rest of the year.

A recent study shows that teacher salaries have actually declined in past decades as cost of living has increased. In South Carolina, we’ve seen a 6 percent decrease since 2000, whereas salaries for other college graduates are increasing.

by Charleston Currents · 04/30/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news